1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device and a server and an image processing system including them, and, in particular to an image processing device which has a web browser function and utilizes this function as an user interface and a server which supplies data in response to a request from the web browser in the image processing device and an image processing system including them.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with developments in image processing technology and information processing technology in recent years, current image processing devices singly have been provided with a copying function, a scanning function, a printer function, a facsimile functions and the like intensively. In general, such image processing devices are referred to as digital complex machine (hereinafter, abbreviated as “complex machine” or “MFP (MultiFunction Peripheral)”). In general, a multifunction peripheral can be connected to a computer network and can execute image processing (image forming processing) while data being transmitted to and received from various types of devices, such as a personal computer, a server and another image processing device.
Further, some multifunction peripherals are adapted to make requests of another device for execution of functions of the device, through a network, and to utilize the results of the execution of the function. Such another device is referred to as a function-extension server, herein. The function-extension server executes predetermined data processing, in response to a request from the multifunction peripheral, and then, transmits the result of execution to a predetermined device. In this case, the predetermined device, which is the output destination, can be either the multifunction peripheral, another function-extension server, or the like. These multifunction peripherals can be equipped with data processing systems that conform to the contents of user's jobs (work flows), in cooperation with the function-extension server, which reduces the burdens on the users or enables the execution of image processing using latest image processing algorithms which are not included in the main bodies of the multifunction peripherals.
Along with the advancement of the sophistication and the increase of the functions of multifunction peripherals as described above, there has been increased the importance of user interfaces which form the contact points between multifunction peripherals and users. In actual, researches and developments for improving the usability of user interfaces have been continuously and actively conducted. Recent technical innovation has been increasingly accelerated and, also, multifunction peripherals have cooperation being increased in degrees with external devices. Thus, researches and developments about their user interfaces have been conducted while the attentions are focused onto the technical developments for easily updating the structures of the user interfaces as well as to the developments for the usability thereof. Particularly, attentions have been focused onto the customization of the user interface structures according to user's needs and onto technical developments for easily changing the user interface structures along with the update of a function thereof and the like.
Prior arts relating to implementations of user interfaces are illustrated below.
JP 2006-127503 A discloses an image processing device and a remote processing device. The image processing device and the remote processing device are connected to each other such that they can transmit and receive data to and from each other to constitute an image processing system. The image processing device in JP 2006-127503 A has a mode in which the image processing device itself operates solely (hereinafter, referred to as a “first mode”) and a mode in which the control of the image processing device is mainly consigned to the remote processing device, and a user interface included in the image processing device is utilized for transmission and reception of information between a user and the remote processing device (hereinafter, referred to as a “second mode”). In the second mode, in actual, the user interface in the image processing device is under the control of the remote processing device.
In the second mode, the image processing device acquires, from the remote processing device, data relating to a menu screen to be displayed on the user interface, then structures a menu screen based on the data, and displays the menu screen on a display unit of the user interface. If the user inputs information, an instruction or the like through the menu screen displayed as described above, the image processing device transmits data relating to this input to the remote processing device, and the remote processing device executes predetermined processing and returns the result thereof to the image processing device. The image processing device, when receiving the result, performs operations according to this result so as to perform the operations according to the user's input.
As described, in the image processing system disclosed in JP 2006-127503 A, the remote processing device manages the data used for structuring the menu screen (the user interface) in the image processing device, and the remote processing device transmits it according to the state of the image processing device as needed, which eliminates the necessity of providing the data for structuring the menu screen with the image processing device. Therefore, the menu screen in the image processing device can be updated by updating the data included in the remote processing device. JP 2006-127503 A suggests that data described in markup languages (HTML, XML, WML, XHTML data and the like) can be used as data for structuring a menu screen. In other words, according to JP 2006-127503 A, the menu screen (the user interface) is implemented as a web-based user interface.
An image processing device, such as a multifunction peripheral, generally includes a user interface having hardware keys as well as a menu screen, and JP 2006-127503 A discloses a method for changing over, between the first mode and the second mode, the assignment of functions to the respective hardware keys included in the image processing device (refer to Table 2 in JP 2006-127503 A, for example). However, the disclosure in JP 2006-127503 A relates to a method for changing over the functions of the hardware keys between first and second modes and does not describe a changeover of the control of the hardware keys according to various conditions that might have been occurred in each of the aforementioned two modes.
JP 2005-011146 A discloses an operation screen display device which is applicable to a user interface in an image processing device, such as a multifunction peripheral. The operation screen display device in JP 2005-011146 A acquires a routine task template from the outside, stores it and, then, structures an operation screen image based on various types of information included in the stored routine task template. Further, JP 2005-011146 A discloses an example of utilization of an XML format as a data format of the routine task template.
The routine task template includes UI information as descriptions for creating a user interface. The UI information can include information indicating that operation onto a certain key or a certain display area should be prohibited (option information). The operation screen display device in JP 2005-011146 A creates and displays an operation screen according to the contents of descriptions in the acquired routine task template and comprehensively prohibits the operations on certain keys and/or certain display areas which are specified from the UI information. As described above, in the invention disclosed in JP 2005-011146 A, the user interface is structured according to the descriptions in the routine task template and, also, the operations on a certain key and/or a certain display area are comprehensively prohibited according to the mode of a routine task.
Besides examples in the prior-art documents aforementioned, there has been known a method which causes a multifunction peripheral to have a browser function (for example, a web browser), so as to acquire necessary information from a server (for example, a web server) as needed, and to create a user interface, thereby an user interface is able to be easily designed and altered. Such a user interface is referred to as a web-based user interface, for example.
When an image processing device is implemented using a touch panel liquid crystal display and the like as a display/input unit in combination with the method of the web-based user interface, the display screen (as a display unit) and software keys embedded in the display screen (as an input unit) are realized through a web browser. Further, the structures of the display screen and the software keys can be easily altered by updating the server.
Conventionally, a multifunction peripheral includes hardware keys, in addition to software keys, as standard input means. The hardware keys are buttons to which functions are varyingly and dynamically assigned according to the state of the multifunction peripheral. For example, the hardware keys include a start key, which is configured as a large-sized button with particularly excellent operability. The start key is the button that is used with a particularly high frequency. Further, according to the current mode of the multifunction peripheral, a certain function is dynamically assigned to the start key so that it has a function of executing scanning, copying or facsimile transmission, for example. Furthermore, the validity/invalidity of the operation (pushing) on the start key is dynamically controlled in real time, along with the change of the state of the multifunction peripheral, in the following way. That is, when conditions required for the execution of the function currently assigned to the start key (for example, the presence or absence of an input of a facsimile transmission destination in the case of the function of facsimile transmission) are not satisfied, the operation on the start key is made invalid. And only if the conditions required for the execution of the function are satisfied, the operation thereon is made valid.
However, when the user interface in the multifunction peripheral is implemented as a web-based user interface, information inputted to the multifunction peripheral through the user interface is accumulated in an external server. Accordingly, even in a case where a hardware key is pushed, the multifunction peripheral is required to additionally communicate with the external server in order to acquire, from the external server, information about a state of the multifunction peripheral itself before starting the operation associated with the pushed hardware key, so as to recognize the state of the multifunction peripheral itself and a content of the operation to be executed in response to the pushing of the hardware key.
This also applies as well to the case where the multifunction peripheral is at a state where it should ignore the pushing of the hardware key (at a state where the operation assigned to the hardware key is invalid). If the hardware key is pushed, the multifunction peripheral communicates with the external server and, only after receiving a response therefrom, the multifunction peripheral can recognize that the operation assigned to the hardware key is invalid. In other words, in a case where a multifunction peripheral including a web-based user interface having hardware keys, the multifunction peripheral must have additional means which is arranged to communicate with an external server and determine, based on a response from the external server, whether the operation assigned to the pushed hardware key is valid or invalid.